Gonul Tol, director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey programme, said Erdogan had sought to divide the opposition by pursuing a policy of criminalising the HDP since 2015.
The move to shut it down “upped the ante”, she said, after the government was criticised for a failed mission to rescue 13 Turkish captives, soldiers and police in Iraq last month. Ankara says they were executed by PKK militants there.
“Erdogan and his nationalist ally will continue to use the Kurdish card to keep their base together,” Tol said.
“They are hoping to keep the Kurdish voter at home in the next elections by shutting down the HDP, but it might very well backfire (and) mobilize Kurdish voters to support the opposition.”